NBA star Drew Gooden brings Thanksgiving dinner to Richmond families

Richmond families got an early Thanksgiving on Sunday, thanks to the generosity of a local basketball legend.

Drew Gooden was back in his hometown Sunday to sponsor a holiday meal with all the trimmings at Richmond’s Booker T. Anderson Community Center.

Gooden is a former star at El Cerrito High School who later attended the University of Kansas and last played for the Milwaukee Bucks.

But he says in his success he hasn’t forgotten about the people back home.

“I like to come home and give back,” he said. “For me to be able to come back and do something like this, it means a lot.”

It was like a homecoming for Gooden who spent a lot of time on the basketball court at Booker T. Anderson Center in south Richmond. At 6’10, the power forward towered over the many kids that attended the event, but that didn’t stop the youngsters from giving him a handshake or posing for a photo.

“Being here brings back a lot of memories,” he said. “It’s an honor that people here at the community center remember me and give me the facility to do what I want to do to help the community.”